Now I have to write something myself—the rest is just AI noise. Dirt Compass is a project born out of necessity, maybe. Or maybe just out of a desire to give it a try—who knows.
Joking aside. I actually only ride on the road, and going up to the Grimsel for the umpteenth time, or to the Dolomites—and dealing with all the tourists—gets exhausting in the long run. That’s why I’m getting myself an Aprilia Tuareg soon.
It’s not far from here to the French Jura, so I figured I’d plan a few rides online to see what’s possible. And either I’m too dumb—which I doubt—or there really isn’t a decent online enduro route planner. And that’s where we are with this project right now.
I don’t know how this will turn out—whatever you stumble upon here, just think of it as a toy for now. Maybe it’ll become a real tool someday, or maybe not. There are some teething problems, and I still have a lot to learn about Brouter. That’s the server we’re using to handle all the route calculations, and as is typical with OSM, the data can be a bit error-prone. So don’t believe everything listed there regarding road closures and surface types. If you want more accuracy, plan your route, set off, and wherever the surface type is incorrect, pull out your phone and correct it in the OSM app. Open source thrives on participation!
If you spot any errors or want to let me know anything else, use the contact form. With just one user so far, a forum would be a bit overkill.
Otherwise, I hope you have fun with it—maybe we’ll run into each other sometime.
Cheers, Michael